NZDF Military police have no power over civilians but caused a group of people to believe they had been detained last year. Photo / NZPA
NZDF Military police have no power over civilians but caused a group of people to believe they had been detained last year. Photo / NZPA
The military police have been ordered to update their training policy after a court found a group of civilians were made to believe they'd been detained - which officers had no power to do - during an incident last year.
Although the NZDF says there was no intention for the officers to detain the members of the public, it has ordered the military police to clarify its training material to better inform personnel of similar interactions.
The man at the centre of the saga is pleased the matter has finally been taken seriously - but is now seeking $25,000 in damages and is urging police to reconsider charging the officers with kidnapping.
He says he lost "considerable income" because of the incident and suffered emotionally and wants the NZDF to put things right.
On May 7 last year, the man and three mates were driving near the Linton Military Camp.
The man stopped at the Kahuterawa Reserve and soon after two military police officers approached the car and asked the driver to identify himself.
The officers had seen the vehicle earlier and suspecting the occupants were using drugs, checked the registration, which came back to a member of the NZDF.
When they approached the car on foot, the man explained that the car belonged to a relative who was not present.
The officers told the driver they suspected illegal activity and alerted police.
The man said he and his passengers were "forcibly detained" and intimidated by the officers who stood on either side of the car "restricting" the occupants from getting out.
Military police have no power to arrest civilians outside NZDF-owned property.
During a later search police found methamphetamine and a pipe on one of the passengers.
He was charged in relation to that, and the driver was charged with an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
That charge was later dismissed by a District Court judge.
The man then lodged a formal complaint with the NZDF and Defence Minister Peeni Henare.
He also complained to police but no basis was found for any charge relating to unlawful detention.
A Court of Inquiry (COI) was held and the man was told the outcome this month.
NZDF Court rules civilians felt detained by military police
The purpose of a COI is to provide an officer in command in the NZDF with "an expeditious fact-finding procedure so that a matter can be promptly investigated and if necessary, prompt, remedial action can be taken".
After assessing all the evidence the COI determined that it was "difficult to accept" that the military police "seriously thought that the civilians chose to remain at the location until the police arrived because they wanted to do the right thing".
"At the very least the [officers] should have suspected that the civilians remained because they thought they could not leave."
It was determined the officers took "active steps to prevent the civilians from leaving their vehicle" and that they should have " taken steps to ensure that the civilians knew that they were free to leave".
But the COI ruled that it was not satisfied the officers "knew that the civilians believed they were detained".
"However, we consider that it is reasonable to expect a trained policing professional, in the circumstances that existed on the evening of 7 May 2020, to be aware of the effect their presence and actions may have on civilians who are not familiar with military police and that one effect might be that the civilians would believe they were not free to leave,"said the COI decision.
"We believe that this is a reasonable expectation to have of a policing professional in these circumstances.
"Ideally [the officers] would have told [the man] and the other occupants of the vehicle that they were not detained or arrested, and they were free to leave.
"The ideal moment for this would have immediately been after it was established that none of the civilians were service people.
"In summary, we find that the civilians did believe they were not free to leave, and this belief was caused by members of [the military police].
"We do not find that the members of NZDF MP intentionally caused this belief, but in the circumstances that existed at the time, they should have taken active steps to ensure the civilians knew they were free to leave."
Military police training to be upgraded to clear civilian confusion
The COI recommended that the NZDF update its training manual in relation to military police officer engagement with civilians.
Defence Minister Peeni Henare. Photo / Mark Mitchell
• More detail on the limits of military police authority as it relates to interactions with civilians.
• Additional scenario-based training involving interactions with civilians.
• Active steps that members of NZDF MP should take where their actions may cause people to believe they are not free to leave.
The information must be incorporated to the training manual by February.
It was also recommended that the military police "develops policy about what to do if military police encounter offending involving civilians".
"This policy should require members of NZDF MP to tell civilians that they are free to leave, if there is any risk that they believe they may be detained," the COI said.
The man is now seeking monetary compensation and a full apology from the NZDF.
"The constraint on my liberty resulted in mental suffering and humiliation and directly caused me to be charged by the police with drug-related offences," he said in a letter to the agency.
"The undeniable fact is that if NZDF Military Police had not detained me then I would not have faced these charges and the resultant anguish, mental distress, humiliation, and costs of time spent at court.
"I lost considerable income because of all this."
He is seeking $25,000 and an apology as "full and final settlement" and said he would take the matter to the Civil Court if needed.
